Seeking ideas for a school so innovative it could “make bureaucrats gasp,” Jefferson County Public Schools leaders on Tuesday called for public proposals as they launched their “schools of innovation” design competition.

Superintendent Donna Hargens urged community teachers, parents, students, academics, business leaders, advocates and others to submit ideas for a school or learning approach that will be chosen by next June. A new school could be opened as early as fall 2015, she said.

The goal is to find “out-of-the-box” ways of reaching students, particularly struggling students who aren’t being served by “cookie-cutter education” in traditional schools, she said.

“We need to do things different,” said JCPS board chairwoman Diane Porter, who joined district and state education officials for the kickoff announcement Tuesday.

JCPS was selected in June by the Kentucky Department of Education as one of four “Districts of Innovation,” meaning it will get waivers from some state education rules to allow it to experiment with learning. The community-generated “school of innovation” is a part of that effort.

Jonathan Lowe, JCPS director of student assignment, said ideas could range from digital approaches to learning to a new experimental brick-and-mortar school. While expense may play into the feasibility of some ideas, there are no current cost parameters.

David Cook, KDE's director of innovation, said proposals could also upend traditional ideas of teacher roles, school programming, the definition of a classroom or even measures of student learning.

But community members will have less than a month to submit a letter of intent to apply, due Dec. 10, according to a schedule released Tuesday.

Applications or proposals are due Jan. 31, 2014. On Feb. 5, applicants will present ideas to a review panel comprised of students, teachers, parents, business representatives, metro government officials, professors and others.

Applicants will have to show before the panel why their idea of a new kind of school is needed, what’s innovative about it, what research supports whether it will boost achievement and what resources it will require. Hargens likened it to the reality TV show “Shark Tank,” where aspiring entrepreneurs pitch ideas to investors.

Finalists announced Feb. 14 will be teamed up with district officials to “translate ideas into action plans” that include a realistic budget, operational structure, curriculum alignment and other components. Winners will be chosen by the school board and announced in June of 2014.

Already, the district has seen interest from business people, school staff and community activists. Ted Smith, Metro Government’s director of innovation who will serve on the review panel, said he hopes to hear from people who in the past would have been unlikely to submit such ideas.